Coleman Loses

Coleman loses ...a lot of money: he's been ordered to pay $94,000 in Al Franken's court costs, hardly anything compared to what either candidate has actually spent on the recount. Should there be punitive damages when a case is as frivolous as Coleman's? Much of election challenge law rests on an unspoken presumption that bitter candidates won't intentionally seek to delay the seating of their opponents out of spite; with that assumption apparently out the window, it's hard for me to say offhand how the rules should be rewritten. But they should.